Don Santiago Canciller Evangelista

The Great Capitan Tiago: Gobernadorcillo, Haciendero, and Candaba’s Richest Man
by Anna Viray-Cruz, great-great granddaughter

Don Santiago Canciller Evangelista was the Gobernadorcillo of Candaba, Pampanga from 1881 to 1883. The Evangelistas were part of the Principalia or the noble ruling class during the Spanish Colonial Rule. They were mestizos de Sangley (Chinese mestizos). Don Santiago came from a line of hacienderos that owned and managed the Evangelista Estates in Candaba, Pampanga, which primarily cultivated rice, sugar, watermelons. Their fishponds raise canduli fish. The Evangelistas were the largest palay producers in Candaba for many years.

Don Santiago was born on July 24,1846, in Candaba, to haciendero Don Rosalino Canciller Evangelista and his wife Doña Dorothea Tecson y Tongco whose family was from Malabon. He was baptized a day later with Severo de Jesus as his godfather. He was trained from an early age in running the haciendas by his father.

At the age of 17, he married his first wife Doña Eusebia Sangco y Santos on October 3, 1863. The marriage was brief as she died on January 18,1865, without producing an heir. At the age of 20, Don Santiago fathered a son named Don Emiliano with Doña Antonia Alonzo who came from an old noble family also from Candaba.Together they had 10 children: Don Emiliano, Doña Ygnacia (b.1868), Don Pedro (b,1870), Don Ambrocio (b.1871), Don Antonino (b.1874, died in infancy), Doña Luisa (b.1876), Don Quintin (b.1877), Don Juan (b.1879), Doña Graciana (b.1880), and Don Atilano (b.1882, died in infancy). Don Santiago married Doña Antonia on October 6,1877, shortly before the birth of their son Don Quintin.

Prior to being elected Gobernadorcillo of Candaba in 1881, Don Santiago had served as Cabeza de Barangay and Teniente del Barrio. At the time of his election as Gobernadorcillo where he won 10 out of 13 votes, Don Santiago was also the richest man in Candaba as the largest single land owner. Based on notarized family civil records, Don Santiago owned hundreds of hectares of land from Mapanique in the south, stretching east to Salapungan to the Bulacan border, all the way north to Cuayang Bugtong and Mandili bordering Nueva Ecija. He also owned thousands of square meters of land within the town of Candaba itself. His bahay na bato was located on Calle de la Virgin (now Evangelista Street), near the San Andres Apostol Catholic Church (aka Candaba Church). He was a favorite of Fr. Esteban Ybeas, osa, the parish priest who described Don Santiago as a man “of unimpeachable conduct, highly appreciated by his neighbors (townsfolk), of sound character for the position (of Gobernadorcillo) entrusted to him, a good father to his family, a leader who governs well, the richest man in town who while he does not speak Spanish, can write in Spanish.” At his election as Gobernadorcillo, Don Santiago was addressed with the honorific title of Capitan. He was affectionately known as Capitan Tiago.

As Candaba’s largest single landowner and richest man, Capitan Tiago was also the town’s largest money lender. Members of the Principalia, the local elite in Candaba and nearby towns, owned him thousands of pesos. Many of his tenant farmers and farm hands also approached him for financial assistance. In a word, Capitan Tiago served as the local banker. Many of the debts owed to him by his workers were forgiven and never collected by the Evangelista Clan after Capitan Tiago’s death.

Doña Antonia passed away on March 26, 1883, at the age of 35, shortly before Capitan Tiago’s term as Gobernadorcillo came to an end. On November 6, 1883, he married for a third time to Doña Maria Pilar Salunga y Dantis who was known as Candaba’s Most Beautiful Woman, and was a descendant of Lakandula, the last King of Tondo.Together they had six children: Doña Rosario (b.1887), Doña Natividad (b.1889), Doña Maria Adelaida (1890-1891), Don Honorio (b.1891), Don Jose (b.1893), and Doña Virginia, who was born two months before Capitan Tiago’s death in 1895.

On the morning of March 10,1895, Capitan Tiago suffered a fatal stroke. He lived long enough to receive the Last Rites of the Catholic Church at the hands of Fr. Balthasar Gamarra, osa. Capitan Tiago was only 48 years old. He was buried before sunset at the small cemetery at the side of the San Andres Apostol Catholic Church (Candaba Church).

Don Santiago Canciller Evangelista achieved so much in his short life. His influence was greatly felt in Candaba’s economic, social, and political life where he did so much to improve the lives of the citizenry. He is still remembered in Candaba and by his numerous descendants to this day. He rightly earned the title, The Great Capitan Tiago.

In 2023, Don Santiago Canciller Evangelista’s life was immortalized in the Evangelista Clan book, “Recuerdos de Candaba: Casa de Evangelista, Familia Principalia.”